Free travel in ordinary buses brought happiness to the faces of women passengers on Sunday as the much awaited Shakti scheme was launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
The main intention behind this scheme is said to increase the work participation rate of women and to promote public transportation in the State.
Mahamata Shankar, a commuter to Mysuru from Bengaluru, said: “Many people are saying it is a freebie, but I don’t agree. The scheme will help a woman save a lot of money which will help her family too. I am happy to see a lot of smiling faces today on this bus. Saving money for a woman is very important to lead a confident and independent life”.
“Student bus pass for each semester would cost ₹1,500. Now as this is made free for girls, ₹3,000 will be saved every year which i can use for buying books or even spend for learning something new like music or art,” said Pallavi Rao, a student from Malleswaram. Ms. Pallavi feels that this would also ease her parents’ burden.
Meanwhile, women conductors were happy to issue zero tickets to women on Sunday. Sharing the experience, K. Radha, a conductor in BMTC from Majestic, said: “It was a happy moment for me today to issue free tickets to women. In my 25-year career, today is a memorable day. The scheme will benefit a lot of women and especially thsoe from poor backgrounds. Today I have issued around 125 tickets for women. I didn’t expect a lot of women to come on the first day. But many came and I am happy about it”.
Confusion persisted on many bus trips in the city as many women were not aware of the rule that they must show a government issued photo ID card and that only people with Karnataka domicile were eligible.
Meanwhile, many conductors were also confused about issuing zero tickets to women and normal tickets to other passengers. Checking the ID added to the time they took to issue tickets.
Shaheen Shah, a member of the Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike(BBPV), shared her experience and said: “My first Shakti ride to Shivajinagar was fairly crowded on a Sunday afternoon. The bus stopped mid-way to finish issuing tickets. The conductor has to check identity cards, ask location and issue actual denomination tickets. The tickets have an additional seal for women. There was confusion in issuing tickets to a mixed group which required both free and regular tickets.”
Ms. Shah said that the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has to find ways to iron out these issues in the coming days, especially during peak or working hours.
Members of the BBPV have urged the government to drop the smart card and domicile requirements.
“I congratulate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy for launching the Shakti scheme. It was good to see the happy faces of women. However we once again request the government to drop the requirement of smart card/ID card. One old woman had to buy a ticket as she didn’t have an ID card today, she felt disheartened as did I,” said Vinay Sreenivasa, member of BBPV.
“Removing the entry barrier of the ID card and smart card will ensure more women use the scheme,” he added.
The BBPV had earlier written to Mr. Reddy to do away with the domicile norm since many migrant workers and people who visit the State for education, healthcare, employment, and other purposes and they will miss out on the benefit of the scheme.
(Inputs from Aditya Padinjat)
